I recently bought a refurbished Vision M off of the Creative website. I just got it out of the box last night and it has yet to be recognized by the computer. I've read seemingly every post on this issue on at least a dozen forums and the most popular solution seems to just leave it plugged to the USB for a long time. It didn't come with a wall charger so this is the only charging method for me but I am running Vista and I thought it'd detect it automatically. The only thing I've been able to get out of it has been the blinking blue light even though it's been sitting here for probably 20 or so hours. What's the deal?

There are other chargers which work very well with the ZVM. PSP chargers, etc. Here is a quote from something ZenChick put together about this question:

A: You can order an AC wall charger from Creative. Be sure it is specifically labeled for the ZVM. As an alternative, you can get a generic wall charger from just about anywhere. If you decide to get one, be sure it meets the following criteria:

* The charger's output voltage is between 4,5 and 5 volts DC, or can be switched to a voltage within that range;
* The output current does not exceed 2400mA (2.4A);
* That the output plug (where it plugs into your player) carries the positive polarity on its center tip.

Many generic multi-voltage adapters have user-switchable adapter tips. Be sure the one you get has a tip that will fit in your ZVM's sync adapter's DC jack. Additionally, detachable tips will have markings on them allowing you to "set" the output polarity. Be sure that the plus sign ( + ) and "TIP" are lined up.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking too. I purchased a charger from amazon and hopefully that'd resolve this issue. However, it's been plugged into the computer for just about two days straight now and it has even yet to be detected by Windows. I just hope it's not anything more serious than a slowly-charging battery. I mean, come on, it's a refurb but that should mean they've fixed it right?

I'll bet that as soon as you plug it into the charger it will power right up. If it has the older firmware 1.40.xx then hopefully upgrading to 1.62.02 will solve the problem. If not then you should try and exchange it for another one.

And if it doesn't power up within the first 10 seconds of having it plugged into the AC charger, its toast. Exchange it. I've repaired hundreds of Zen Vision:M's and every single time that it didn't power up within the first 10 seconds, it never powered--it means that the motherboard is fried.

The adapter came in today, and I have an interesting update (unfortunately). So when I first plugged it in, the screen lit up for the first time. You can't imagine how excited I was. To make sure that it got a full first charge, I planned to leave it for at least 6 or 7 hours. However, I came back after like 10 minutes to check on it and I saw that the screen had turned off. I thought that was weird, so I unplugged it and plugged it back in. The Creative logo came up, and then it displayed that full-battery icon and turned right back off. As of now, the player only turns on when it's plugged into the charger (which connects directly to the player, not through the dongle, so I can't connect it to the USB while on) and still blinks five times when I try to turn it on otherwise, frustrating. Which also means that the computer still cannot see it and therefore I can't do anything with it. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I don't remember reading it anywhere. This has been one big headache. Looks like this wasn't the deal I thought it was.